The Princess's Oath (NaLu)
by TenryuNo Wendy
Summary: The long-awaited final battle of Fairy Tail has arrived and Lucy is left in doubt. She has made it her soul mission to protect her best friend, Natsu, despite the cost of life and limb. But, will she be able to carry out her mission without either Natsu or Lucy losing their sanity? Or, will the darkest Magic of all prevail and overcome the likes of their friendship?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Surprise Onslaught**

It was the day before the final battle; the battle between Ishgar (Fiore) and Alvarez Empire. Lucy, the blonde Celestial Spirit Mage, Lucy Heartfilia, was just sitting in her room, writing her book, whilst Natsu and Happy were prepping up for the battle. Lucy, being herself, was tremendously nervous. Fairy Tail, let alone the rest of Fiore, had never faced such an enemy. Not even Tartarus would be this strong. Any thoughts of happiness would have been dismissed that night as they prepared for the next day's combat. A battle to the death. And this time, Fairy Tail wasn't guaranteed to win.

Lucy bore a tank top that one day as her eyes fell upon the likes of her best friend, partner, and team mate, Natsu. Even amongst the utter chaos, whenever Lucy looked at Natsu, she'd smile. The blonde found herself admiring his tooth grin he made. Natsu was always the one who had been able to cheer Lucy up the most. Lucy, despite her own beliefs, had grown attached to Natsu.

Natsu had always been there for Lucy, comforting her when she needed it. She loved that aspect of Natsu dearly. In fact, she loved all of Natsu. The Celestial Spirit Mage still could remember when the two first met back in Hargeon and he broke the love spell that Bora guy had set on her. She was grateful till this day that he had done that. Lucy may never have joined Fairy Tail and met all these nice people if Natsu hadn't been there that day. Though, the blonde doubted Natsu's ability to remember that far back.

Ever since the two met, Natsu had saved her life on numerous occasions. More times than the blonde could count and it made her feel endlessly guilty, knowing she rarely saved his. When that thought came to mind, Lucy quickly glanced back to her paper, tears attempting to escape her eye. As they did, Lucy gripped her fists out of disappointment.

The blonde grunted to herself under her breath, "I need to protect him this time… If either of the two of us is going down, it'll be me…" Her tear-stricken eyes glanced over to Natsu again, the seriousness of her voice growing tenfold, "I promise, Natsu…" And once her sentence was complete, she went back to writing her story – possibly for the last time…

The pinkette glanced at his best friend, seeing her eyes watery. He raised an eyebrow at the female, worry eating him. What was wrong? She usually worried a lot, but he didn't think that was the case this time. He rose to his feet, pacing towards her being. In this case, he was unsure of which person was more concerned, Lucy or Natsu?

"Is something the matter, Lucy?" He questioned, trying to hide the worry laced in his words. She probably was afraid for the upcoming battle. "If this is about the war, don't worry so much!" He said, faking a smirk, in a futile attempt to cheer her up. Although he was fully aware that nothing would cheer her up, Natsu made an attempt, anyway.

Lucy looked back at Natsu, worry about him clouding her thoughts, whilst her tears shrouded her vision. She made a slight attempt at smiling back, but her tears defeated the smile.

"Natsu…" she whimpered as she glanced at him, her best friend. She couldn't keep herself from hugging him tightly. Feelings had, as always, completely overwhelmed her when it came to Natsu. Lucy's eyes continued to bear tears. Tears that signified she cared deeply for Natsu. Lucy's arms were around Natsu's muscular waist, whilst she buried her face in Natsu's bare chest. "Natsu… I don't want you to fight…" she whinged into him. Thoughts of his potential death drove the female crazy. The special technique… That could only be used once… Since it could only be used once… It could kill him. "You always save me… I don't want you to go… It won't be fair…" she pleaded in a waterfall of utter tears.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu said, pulling her into a hug, trying to comfort her. "I won't die! I promise you that!" He breathed into her hair, stroking her back softly, something he did when she would need comforting. It had become natural for him to bring her into an embrace when she was in such a torn state.

He smirked at his thought, and loosened his grip on her. Glancing down, he noticed she was on the verge of tears. He used the pad of his thumb to quickly clean her beautiful doe-brown eyes. "And besides, when we win this battle, I have some things to take care of!" He said as his trademark smirk was evident. Only he knew what he had planned to do after the war. Not even Gray, Happy, Gildarts or Mavis knew what would be up the pinkette's sleeve once the war had ceased.

"Natsu…" she cried as more tears escaped her eye. Her weeps and sobs were wracking at her entire being against Natsu. He always took such good care of her; it made the guilt 500% worse than what it already would be. "What is it…? That you have to take care of…?" she managed between horrid sobs. Thoughts and possibilities of what it could be clouded her mind, but no particular coherent thought could be made in that particular moment.

 _Does this even matter?_ she asked herself in her own mind. _Does it have to do with someone else...?_

Why did this bug Lucy so much, knowing he had things to take care of after the war that she was uninformed about? Maybe it didn't even have to do with her. Rather, maybe it just had to do with Natsu himself? He could be going through his midlife crisis, for all she knew. _Or not_ , she thought to herself. _Natsu is too young and immature to be going through his midlife crisis_. He could possibly just want to fill up his bucket list, right?

As he slid the pad of his thumb to clean her eyes, there was little resistance against a small smile that crept upon her lips. She may have been in a very depressed state, but his way of taking care of her made her smile, no matter what it is. Lucy's eyes fell closed as he continued to do so, feeling slightly more at ease than she was prior. Which was weird, because Lucy was in a very foul mood.

Natsu's smile remained evident, despite the fact that Lucy was basically crying her eyes out, just stroking the tears away. He just stood there for a long moment, wiping her tears away. Like it was a mandatory thing for that specific moment in time. It wasn't or wouldn't be to anyone else, but to Natsu, cheering Lucy up was his top priority. It always was and always has. He always cared for Lucy, even if her hair was drenched in tears.

"Shhh… It's no matter to concern yourself with yet, Luce," Natsu reassured her. What Natsu did next would make any girl's heart warm, but especially Lucy. What he ended up doing was hugging her tightly, bringing her deep into his bare chest. "If anyone should be concerned, it should be me. I mean what about you? What's going to happen to you, Lucy?"

Lucy couldn't stop herself from slightly frowning a bit. "I can protect myself, and you shouldn't worry about me," Lucy declared, in a fairly convincing manner. She still had her arms around Natsu's waist. After she had said what she had, Lucy quickly slipped out of Natsu's arms and adjusted her shirt, which had somehow been moved up during the encounter.

For moments, Lucy and Natsu just stared at each other, glaring into each other's eyes. A small smile crept onto both of their faces. It was obvious that Lucy didn't want this moment to end. However. "What you lookin' at, Luce?" Natsu had asked, tilting his head.

Lucy growled, looking away, "Nothing…" That moment, Lucy just paced back to her bed and grabbed the book right beside her bed and landed on her bed, slightly irritated, but didn't let o, no matter how much she wanted to, in fact, let on. She knew that they shouldn't even fight that night, even if it's small. It could have possibly been the last night they'd ever see each other, or spend together.

The next thing that happened was a complete and utter blur. Screaming arose from the people outside. Lucy's eyes widened and she quickly sprinted to the window of her apartment, looking out where a bunch of people gathered around, bearing horrid expressions of utter fear. There was a child who was crying horrifically. But, it seemed they were all looking up at the sky. Outside, Lucy saw Elfman also looking up at the sky.

"Natsu, we need to get down there!" Lucy declared as she flung on her laid out attire for the next day. She dashed down the stairs, Natsu being dragged by her palm. There was sweat pouring down her face.

"What is it?!" Natsu burst, unexpectedly being dragged down the stairs of Lucy's apartment at a very fast pace. Happy, who followed behind him, was confused about the whole commotion. His head was tilted toward Lucy as he was attempting to keep up with the sprinting female. "Lucy!" he continued to shriek as his fingers tightened around hers.

As Lucy finally dragged Natsu out of the door, she immediately found Elfman. "Elfman, what's going on?!" she chirped with a high voice. She was slightly panting as she looked up into the sky. "WHAT IS THAT!?" the Celestial Spirit Mage trembled as she glanced as such an object in the sky. Her hand had fallen from Natsu's and now laid by her hip as shivers of terror flowed through her blood stream.

In the sky, there were multiple airships porting from Alvarez, and that was obvious. A lot more than thirty, maybe fifty airships crowded the sky. It was night, and it was certain that they weren't waiting for the fairies, or else they wouldn't be there. From one of the many airships that populated the skies above Magnolia, a male, the one they met during their escape from Alvarez, boomed horrifically, "OHHH YEAH! TIME FOR YOU TO RETURN TO ASHES, FAIRY TAIL! IT'S PARTY TIME!"

"It's about fifty air ships from Alvarez," Elfman justified, trying to keep a calm composure, even though, on the inside, he was probably losing his shit like everyone else around him. He then looked at Lucy, with the same composure as before; glares of fear bloomed within his eye sockets. "They aren't doing the manly thing, they are attacking NOW."


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End

**Chapter Two: The Beginning of the End**

Lucy's eyes became pits of darkness as she witnessed Elfman speak such words to her. "They what?!" she hollered once again. Whilst Natsu was looking up at the sky, having a confused face, Lucy was accompanied by Levy, who was all dressed, yet looked as though she had just woken up, Gajeel, a sour face as he always had, and Pantherlily, still in his Exceed form.

The first thing Lucy did when she saw Levy was wrap her arms around her. "Lu-chan!" Levy yelped as she copied the action the blonde had done. That action had definitely arisen the awareness of the bluenette. Lucy, as quickly as she embraced Levy, let go and looked up, mortify written all over her face.

Levy could see Lucy's trembling, even from her peripheral vision. Lucy was terrified of what was going to happen next – Alvarez was attacking **_THAT MOMENT_**. This was not at all planned, rather, unexpected. "Levy… They are attacking…" murmured Lucy as she glared at the object in the sky once again.

Elfman and Gajeel, who were right behind Lucy, Levy, growled and started to dash toward the air ships. Pantherlily, who was on Gajeel's shoulder, flew back to Levy. "We are going to fight," the black Exceed stated as he levitated in front of the wide-awake bluenette, a serious frown, as always, on his face. He looked severely impatient.

Levy nodded in agreement, her blue hair slightly moving with the nod. "I'm coming, too," she stated as she stood beside the black, flying Exceed. "I need to fight!" she stated as she start to run with Panterlily toward where Elfman and Gajeel were headed. Levy's skirt flowed gracefully in the breeze behind her as she ran toward them, determination blazing in her eyes.

"But-" Lucy started as she began to pace toward Levy. "We aren't ready yet!" she shrieked horrifically as tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her face was flushed with redness from the crying she had done earlier, but this was worse than before. She was confounded with fear, it was a given. But as Lucy made her way, she was stopped, by the pull of her hand.

When she looked back, it was _Natsu…_

 _Natsu…_

 _Natsu…?_

 _Natsu stopped me?_ The blonde asked within her head as she glanced at Natsu, tears pooling in her eyes, which made Natsu grip his other hand tight to his side. Was he angry that Lucy was trying to follow her fiend, Levy? Was he?

Conversely, Natsu's eyes were sincere, but full of anger at the same time – sincerity toward Lucy, anger toward Alvarez. "You aren't goin'." Natsu stated harshly, examining almost every feature of Lucy's face, be the features blush red or pale white.

Natsu stared at Lucy's doe brown eyes, which sparkled as though there were tiny galaxies blossoming within them. As he looked at her, he had to admire her golden blonde hair as well. He couldn't help himself from pulling Lucy into himself gently. Natsu's gripped palm carefully landed on Lucy's hip, whilst the other one caressed a lock of her hair. "Lucy, don't go… And don't cry… Please," the pinkette pleaded with Lucy, pain pulsing in his chest.

"Natsu…" Lucy hummed gently as her tears continued their waterfall down her flustered cheeks. Yet, at the same time, her heart fluttered slightly at the action that Natsu had just made. And only Natsu had actually ever made her heart flutter like that. "I promised I'd protect you, Natsu… I have to go…" she continued as she broke away from Natsu's hold, as much as it hurt her to do so.

At that moment, Lucy found her hand locking with Natsu's, pulling him by her side. It was subconsciously, which was so weird. That action was rarely done between the two. It was rarely done by anyone of the guild of FairyTail, but this was a different occasion, was it not? Like, they were going to war… One that they may not escape or, only one could escape.

"Then let's go together!" chimed Natsu in a cheery tone of voice. Lucy's eyes widened, realising that in all of this chaos, Natsu would be able to smile. That, out of everything, gave her hope – it gave Lucy hope that the both of them can get out alive.

The thought made Lucy giggle slightly. Her other hand went down to her waist, grasping her key pack. With that, she withdrew her whip. "YEAH!" the blonde cheered as she brushed her hair out of her face, allowing her sight. Her hair had been getting very long, which was to be expected from the Celestial Spirit Mage.

As Lucy had done such an action, a voice had projected through all of the members of Fairy Tail – it was most likely Warren's voice, which meant a message from the first master, Mavis Vermillion, was coming through. It would have either been about going onto plan A or other plans that they had in store for their opponents.

 _'Team Flying Dragon, team Osprey, commence! This is a message coming from the First Master of Fairy Tail,'_ the voice of Warren bellowed in their minds as Natsu's and Lucy's eyes glanced toward the attacking airship. With that message, Lucy's eyes began to overflow with high levels of worry and stress. Even though she knew that it was chosen by Fairy Tail's Tactician and first master, she was still anxious about the whole thing.

That message signified that Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Happy, Pantherlily and Carla were to head up to the airships and attack. Well, Happy, Pantherlily and Carla were going to fly the three Dragonslayers up there; the Fairy Tail first Generation Dragonslayers would be the ones attacking. Whilst Bisca and her family would be shooting the Jupiter Canon; the first was hoping to hit their opponent and at least emit some damage to the airships.

Lucy's eyes trailed to Natsu, causing her smile to fade into a depressed expression. "Natsu…" she murmured whilst examining Natsu's being. Lucy had hoped to not have him battle, even though she knew that wasn't a possible action with any of the guild members, but it was especially impossible with Natsu. It caused her to wrap her arms around Natsu's waist once again, and she whispered, "Please be safe, Natsu… Don't get yourself hurt…"

And as quickly as she grasped onto his waist, she let go, just as he stated, "I will…" And with that, Happy lifted him up off of the ground and they soared into the sky. Happy's large wings flapped as they dodged oncoming attacks from above. Happy was not overworking himself by dodging such attacks, as he was used to it. Happy had always been Natsu's form of transportation – the only form of which none of the Dragonslayers would get sick by being on.

"Take care of yourselves!" Lucy called with worry. And she ran underneath the, for about five seconds until she figured it was too late to stop them. She carefully drew out her final following steps, stopping with a wave of her hand. She murmured to herself as she put her hand on her hip, "Stay safe, Natsu… You better come back alive…"

While the Dragonslayers of Fairy Tail flew up to attack the airships, Lucy anxiously awaited the shot from the Jupiter canon that Bisca, from team Osprey, was going to shoot. She drew out long breaths as her eyes followed Natsu and Happy, who were soon joined by Gajeel, Wendy, Carla and Pantherlily. Lucy's grip was harsh against her own wrist. She had hoped for the best, even though she was aware that this enemy was far beyond anything Fairy Tail has faced. But then again, they had all improved since they broke up a little over a year ago.

Out of the expected spot where team Osprey was, the Jupiter canon took its shot toward the airships, causing smoke to cloud the sight around the area. "NATSU! GAJEEL! WENDY!" Lucy shrieked as the large shot collided with its target. Worry apprehended her vision, causing the blonde female to be in a temporary blinded state.

"IT'S OKAY, LUCY!" wailed Natsu, of whom was seen zooming around the sky, with Happy on his back, once again. "We got this!" He continued, and after such, Natsu and Happy dove into the cloud of smoke. But seeing Natsu okay was all the female needed to be okay at that particular moment. That was all she needed.

Yet, when the clouds cleared, the head airship still remained in the air, whilst some other airships within the vicinity of the head airship were damaged. Perhaps you could say even one or two were headed toward the ground, but that never ceased the fact that the head airship was undamaged by the Jupiter canon. "What!?" Lucy shrilled, her eyes wide pits of horrid darkness, with some despair. "How did Jupiter now even collide with the one Ajeel was on!? Did he… Did he reflect it!?"

Ajeel had, in fact, reflected the Jupiter canon from hurting his airship, not giving a damn whether or not it's affect his comrades' ships. He wanted to set the Fairies on fire, and not in a good way. Rather, in a violent way. But he didn't have such a chance due to the fact that when the smoke had cleared, Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, along with their Exceeds, had come barging in toward the airship.

The moment the Dragonslayers and their Exceeds attacked, however, they were forced to land on the tilting airship, which consisted of Ajeel, and other members of Alvarez. Yet, when they landed on the airship, Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel began bending over in motion sickness. "I can't… Fight…. Like this…" cried the Sky Sorceress, Wendy Marvell, as she bent over in stomach pain.

Lucy, oblivious as to what was going on in the sky, was headed toward the Fairy Tail guild- or was, until a half of the head airship broke in half. Lucy's eyes had hastily trailed toward the airship, which half of it was heading toward the ground. Lucy, being herself, dashed toward where she thought it'd land. But, as the blonde Celestial Spirit Mage did such an action, her eyes often scanned the remaining half of the airship which was, miraculously, still floating in the air.

It was such a fine slice, Lucy had found after close, or, in her case, several elongated glances. But as such was going on, Lucy found herself slowing down her running pace, of which she didn't really fancy. After she had come to the conclusion that it was Erza who had sliced such perfection out of the airship, Lucy once again started to dash toward where the other half, by now, had crashed into the ground.

Tears ran down the female's cheek as she approached the crash site. Lucy couldn't see any of the Dragonslayers, but their Exceeds were found and they were alright. "NATSU, WENDY, GAJEEL?!" the blonde hollered as she trailed around the crash site, which was full of flames and everything.

In a flash, Lucy was blinded by some material that covered her eyes. It was black, which she knew. She started to let out a scream, which didn't get her very far, as she was then duck taped, or something was put in her mouth. Her wrists and ankles were forced together, leaving her unable to fight for herself against whatever was hurting her at that moment.

In that moment, Lucy had lost her consciousness. Everything went black in her mind, and in her sight. The blonde was out cold, but what did this mean? The last words she had heard before she lost consciousness were, " _You are coming with me, Blondie…_ "


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: the Magic of Mystery**

There was fire, oh boy. Fire clouded the area of which the three Dragonslayers of team Flying Dragon awoke. "Ugh… Salamander-" coughed the Iron Dragonslayer, Gajeel Redfox. The raven-haired mage's eyes were immensely watering due to the smoke in the air. Gajeel could only imagine how Wendy, the Sky Dragonslayer, who relied solely on the air, was handling such a situation.

Yet, before the Dragonslayers had to worry about such, the embers which surrounded them began flowing circularly toward the middle of a large magic circle that belonged to, none other than, Natsu Dragneel. Or, as Gajeel referred to him as, the Salamander. Natsu, as always, was one step ahead of the rest when it came to the fire Element – as it was the one he specialised in – and was already inhaling all the embers. As soon as they had disappeared, Natsu looked as though he was as full as a beast. "I was already on it," he declared as he threw the iron Dragonslayer an ice-cold glare.

Immediately, all Dragonslayers caught the scent of their Exceeds and found them, caressing their soft fur. Wendy and Carla exchanged tears, Pantherlily and Gajeel exchanged arguments as always, but then there was Natsu. Natsu was not focused on Happy now that he had found him. But, Natsu had remembered that Lucy came running after him as the airship fell out of the sky, he had seen it. It was almost made obvious that Natsu was trying to find Lucy.

Natsu had caught a familiar scent. One that he had gotten skills to identify _IMMEDIATELY_. It was Lucy's scent. Natsu, being the man that he was, was already running in the direction that he could smell her scent. Panic shot through his veins as he was looking around. "LUCY!" he bellowed as he ran. Thoughts ran wild in his head whilst he tried to find the location of Lucy. He had to follow her scent, it didn't matter the cost of life or limb what would happen. He needed to find her. His sixth (yes, he did have a sixth sense) justified that she was in danger. How? That much the sixth sense couldn't state.

The temptation and worrying was building up in him. Why wasn't she there? Why wasn't she by his side? Why was he unable to protect her? He felt horrid due to that fact. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to keep her from breaking. Could he just do that much? Apparently, he couldn't.

Where was she?

 _Where_ was she?

Who did it?

 _WHO_ did it?

Whoever or whatever it was, Natsu was going to find out and he was going to get rid of them. He couldn't tolerate the fact that she was taken away from his side by a bunch of cunts. He just couldn't deal with it.

Never again would he let any of his family be taken away from him like that. Not again. He just _couldn't_ allow it **_EVER AGAIN_**. He had made it his mission to do so. It was why he left for that year – to make himself stronger for every single one of his friends. Just to have them taken away from him again? He wouldn't allow it.

 ** _~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~MEANWHILE: WHERE LUCY WAS~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~_**

The lights were bright. They shun bright in the young face, and eyes, of the Celestial Spirit Wizard. It was so bright that it had caused her to cringe heavily. "Ugh…" Lucy panted as she became aware of what had been in her surroundings. The twinkles of lights that would usually cloud one's vision after quite an extenuating amount of time in the dark certainly clouded the vision of Lucy Heartfilia, and in that moment, it wouldn't be of much help to her.

"Looks like she's waking up…" stated a voice nearby. It was low, and sounded not at all familiar. Could it have been a thief?

"Yeah… Busty blonde is finally up, now we can get back to business," stated another, more feminine voice. Again, she hadn't recognized the voice. Voice to name – no.

 _What_ business _are they talking about?_ Lucy had pondered to herself in fear. Yet, she didn't have much time to ponder or fear, as her chin was immediately jerked. The doe-brown eyes of hers immediately shot open. She couldn't recognize the voice. Or the face.

"W-who are you…?" Lucy asked sheepishly, glaring into the face of the _female_ standing right in front of her. Lucy was completely bewildered as to what they were planning to do with her. Why did they need they were planning to do with her. Why did they need _her? Out of ALL people_? Was it Celestial Spirit magic that was required?

The female that stood, blank-faced, before her, didn't reply to her, only watched her. The female that stood before her had long, brown hair that was about down to the small of her back. Her nose was petite and had a little, what Lucy presumed to be a birth mark, under the left nostril. Her brown locks were immensely curled. Curled to the point that they had little ringlets at the ends of each strand. Her eyes were a glorious grey, much like that of Erza. Her breasts weren't that big, more like that of Wendy. She was about the same height as Lucy herself, or that was what Lucy presumed. They also had little sparkles glistening within them. It had actually made Lucy wonder what type of magical powers this one female possessed.

Though, at that moment, that wasn't the time to wonder such. It was the time to fight. She hadn't moved whatsoever since she had awoken, unless it was forced. So, in order to find out whether she had been tied down or not, Lucy moved her wrist to her key pouch. Unfortunately, she couldn't. As the female, who was actually quite smart, regarding the fact that she was a blonde, predicted, she was stuck. Hopeless, maybe even so. Knowing what people are like, Lucy didn't even need to attempt to move her legs to know that they had been stuck, too.

Oh, how she longed for someone to help her. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Wendy? Heck, even Ichiya or Happy! Where was everyone? Probably in combat. But then again, where was she? She didn't even recognize her surroundings, nor did she try to recognize them, as there was most likely no use in doing so. Again, she asked, surprisingly, what the name of the brown-haired one who had held her by the throat's name was. "What's your name?" Lucy had asked her voice a bit louder now.

Lucy had been losing her patience, but this time, surprisingly, the one with brown hair answered. Her voice was like caramel whilst giving the answer, "My name is Aura. I am one of the Spriggan Twelve. I am the Dragonblood of Spriggan Twelve: Aura Radi (ワーキング・オーラ). The Dragon of Space and Time is my father. But, it's not like you are going to live long enough to know that. We have business with you. Of which you may be debating, no?" Aura started to walk around the strapped female. The female had a claw-like type of hand.

 _Dragonblood? What_ is _that? Is it like a Dragonslayer…? The Dragonslayer of Space and Time? The Dragonblood of Space and Time?_ The female had that thoroughly ringing through her head as her eyes furrowed horrifically. She had many ideas as to what a Dragonblood was. But why would the Dragonblood, whatever it was, be one of the Spriggan Twelve. "Dragonblood…?" Lucy whispered quietly as her eyes wandered off to the side.

Aura, the so-called Dragonblood, grinned a toothy one, exposing the fangs that only a Dragonslayer could bare. "Indeed. I am the offspring of Space, Time, and humans, themselves. Meaning, I have a human and a Dragon as my birth parents. Though, they both left whilst I was young. I don't remember them, only by name." The female did not look at all hurt by those facts. Rather, she seemed quite proud of her heritage. Maybe, if she had been raised by her actual parents, she wouldn't've been there at that one moment. Perhaps, she would be a part of Fairy Tail.

Maybe everything would be different than it was for her. But, then, maybe her parents died and it was unavoidable. Like Natsu's parents…

But… Blood of a Dragon and blood of a human? That wasn't quite like Dragonslaying magic, where they were foster parents. No, it was unique to the type of person she was. But, Lucy hadn't known that type of magic, or heard of it. The only two people she could think of that knew of that type of magic or being was Makarov or Mavis. Heh, both M's and masters of Fairy Tail. They had easily been the most intelligent people when it came to magic that Lucy, herself, knew.

"What happened to them so that they weren't with you during your childhood?" Lucy asked, curious as she always was. She wanted to know more about what happened – the blonde was severely intrigued by the brunette and her past. Even though she knew that Aura was the enemy, that didn't negate the fact that she was inquisitive as heck when it came to new types of magic.

The Space and Time Dragonblood sighed harshly, shaking her head dismissively. "My mother died whilst she was giving birth to me, and my father was killed by the Water Dragonslayer when I was young," the reply was short, but explained a heck of a lot. No wonder she'd be against the world. The world, logic, and everything killed her parents. And God knows what type of environment she grew up in. She had an excuse to be where she was, didn't she?

Yet, at the mention of a killed parent, Lucy couldn't help but relate, and also feel bad. At least she knew her parents – Lucy did. Whilst Aura; she never got to know them. Was that why she had a harsh voice? Aura, surprisingly, didn't look older than about nineteen or twenty. That meant that the Dragons would've 'disappeared' when she was about the age of five. That would've added up since the Dragons _did_ disappear about fifteen years ago.

Lucy sighed, knowing she'd regret her next words, especially since she was taking pity on her enemy. "I'm sorry…" it had come out as a small whisper, indeed, but she knew it was heard. She'd be pissed if it actually hadn't. Aura seemed to have great hearing, either way, so it wasn't a huge concern. The real concern would be Aura's response to what Lucy had to say.

The apologetic manner in which Lucy had said what she had was enough to not cause Aura to hit her with as much anger as she could have. Yet, Aura still swung at Lucy with a fair amount of force, enough to make her nose bleed. "BITCH, NO! DO NOT APOLOGIZE! I DON'T NEED YOUR FUCKIN' PITY!" The brunette had anger welling up in her eyes, making them blood-red. As a result of such anger, she started to pace away from Lucy, toward the only door to the room.

Lucy had only been reminded of the other men in the room when they had spoken up and called, "Spriggan Aura!" They sprung up out of their chairs and rushed toward her, wondering what was going on with her anger and everything. What had Lucy really done to set her off? What was it? Lucy was pretty sure it was her apology.

Lucy was aware, oh, was she aware, that at that moment she had time to escape as the men were focused on Spriggan Aura Radi. Lucy was actually able to kick her shoes off, which was what she had done first. It was a great thing that Lucy knew how to do stuff like force the rope that was belted to her feet to slide off. She was that talented with her feet, which was something she was proud of was.

Within moments, the Celestial Spirit Wizard of the Fairy Tail guild was able to undo the knot around her ankles and she then bent herself in a way that she'd be able to undo the knot on her wrists. Even though it exposed a large amount of her body that she'd never want to expose to anyone, she still did it. Lucy didn't give two shits whether or not it exposed her. She just wanted out.

At that moment, a large fire barged through the walls of the unknown place, burning a lot of the clothes in the room. But not just the clothes were burnt, but the ropes that enveloped the wrists of Lucy Heartfilia. Following the flames was an explosion of bricks, among other things that accompanied the north wall of the room her, Aura and the males were in.

Accompanying the flames and explosion was a snicker. One that only Lucy would recognize. One that belonged to HER Fire Dragonslayer, Natsu Dragneel. Subsequent to the snickering, a figure was being formed through the flames as coughs bellowed through the room. "You really shouldn't've chosen a room that relies solely on oil. That's pathetic…"

At that moment, even though she was coughing, Lucy was excited as all heck to see Natsu again. It wasn't a first for him to show up and save the day like he did. That had happened quite frequently. Mainly since the time with Future Rogue… But… The year during Fairy Tail's absence was the hardest, also something Lucy hadn't wanted to think about. The only thing running through her veins, along with her head, was the adrenaline of Natsu's presence.

As the smoke cleared, it had exposed Natsu in his flame-proof attire with a wicked grin. He had been cracking those muscular knuckles of his, most likely itching for a battle. "Natsu…" whimpered Lucy, happiness shooting through her veins as another added ingredient to her blood. Through her melted clothes, she didn't care – she just dashed to his side.

Even though the two were in combat, Natsu still enveloped her in the deepest of hugs. He cared not. "Lucy…" he murmured, placing a kiss upon her forehead, his muscles relaxing slightly around her body. He only had a moment to hold her before Aura sent an attack flying toward the Dragonslayer and Celestial Spirit Wizard.

" _Uchūryū no Hōkō_!" Aura yelled as twinkles of starlight shot out of her petite palms. She obviously was strong. It was shown. Evident. Everything about the attack screamed strength.

Natsu shoved Lucy out of the way and called in response, "Nice try!" Then, as a counter attack, he sent a familiar attack, but only it was that of fire. " _Karyū no Hōkō_!" The room between the two exploded, shooting the both of them back. Or, rather, only Aura was sent flying back. Natsu just stood there, just waiting to say, as he did, "You don't kidnap MY Lucy without paying for it, fuckin' cunts." 

**(Author's note:**

 **I am SO sorry it took so long to upload this chapter. In all honesty, I was stumped as to what to write next. And, also, I have school. With midterms and everything, oh, God, it was a horror. It was all thanks to Luce that I was able to get going on chapter three. So, again, I apologize that I hadn't made this a priority.**

 **Anyway, Natsu kissed Lucy! I admit, I fangirled, myself, even though it had been brief. Either way, the development of Aura will grow within the next chapter, I assure thou.**

 **I tried to make this chapter longer than usual to make up for my absence. Thank you or your understandings!**

 **Also, there were a few terms that you may not be aware of within this chapter:**

" _Uchūryū no Hōkō_!" - Aura Radi

"Roar of the Cosmic Dragon." Cosmic Dragon magic is the short form of the Space and Time Magic that was mentioned briefly within this chapter.

" _Karyū no Hōkō_!" -Natsu Dragneel

"Roar of the Flame Dragon." We all know this one, no?

 **Thank you for reading this chapter, despite the amount of time I had delayed. Please leave a review as to what you'd like to happen in the next chapter. Also, tell your friends! The more the better, right?**

 **-TenryuNo Wendy )**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Truth of the Infinite Flame**

Aura glared at the salmon-haired Fire Dragonslayer will eyes overflowing with nothing but utter hatred and rage. Her hatred and rage toward the male was not shown in entirely her eyes, but her severely clenched teeth, and, in addition, fists. It had, quite oddly, seemed as though there was an anger-filled aura swarming around her. It shrouded the minor details of the female's body.

 _Maybe that was why she was given the name "Aura" at birth…_ Lucy had quietly thought to herself, and only herself, hoping that the Dragonblood known as Yiro couldn't do anything bizarre, like reading minds. She did so whilst eyeing the Dragonblood, who went by the name of Aura, with her shocked doe-brown irises. But wonder shot into her veins as a thought formed in her head. The thought, but it was more like a question, was: "Why would Aura hate Natsu? Had he done anything wrong to cause Aura to hate Natsu?"

The thought then hit her like a bullet to the chest. Natsu was a Dragonslayer, last time the Heartfilia checked. A Dragonslayer had killed Aura's father when she was young. That would explain a hell of a lot of her bitter thoughts about the Dragonslayer, Natsu, along with her angered state. Then, another thought passed through the Heartfilia's mind. The question being: "Wouldn't Aura've been raised with a Dragonslayer of her element? With the Dragonslayer that her father taught? Or… Did her father even teach a Dragonslayer?'

So many more thoughts became coherent in the blonde teen's head. At that moment, however, Aura began chanting, but more like shouting, accompanied by a magic circle underneath her, " ** _AKUMA NO FUKKATSU_**!" which translated into, "Demon's Resurrection." But, Lucy hadn't caught onto that. Lucy was too deep in thought to even remotely pick up on the fact that there was an attack heading her way. She only became remotely became aware of such an attack when Natsu bellowed from the sides, whilst tackling her, " _LUCY, LOOK OUT_!"

The " ** _Akuma no Fukkatsu_** _"_ chant had become the attack that was shot toward Lucy. It had lights swirling toward the middle. It was quick like a bullet; yet, it was able to miss Lucy, not because Aura missed, but because Natsu interfered, taking the attack to the chest. A roar of immense pain bellowed out of the hollows of the Dragonslayer's throat. Damn, that must have been painful. Not only did it sound like it was, but it looked like it was, too.

Natsu, his salmon-hair quite frizzled, was panting heavily on the floor, his eyes shut. Wounds that heaved heavy amounts of blood shrouded his skin. The attack also tore a part of his navy coat, more than it already had been. When the blonde witnessed her best friend, who had fallen on her behalf, it felt as though she had just been stabbed by Gray's _Ice-Make: Lance._ Tears started to bombard her cheeks as she bawled, " ** _NATSU!_** "

How long had it been since he last scared her like this? How long had it been since he last terrified her so much that she regretted the day she was born? Probably a few hours go when the airship crashed. But only God knew how long it had been since she was kidnapped. Well, God, the two males who were not Natsu in the room, and Aura. Not even Lucy, herself, knew how long it had been. She had probably been unconscious most of the time.

"Fuck you… Fuck you, Aura… Why…?" Croaked the blonde, torn, Celestial Spirit Mage of Fiore's strongest guild as she brought Natsu's unconscious body into her arms. It was a futile and extremely petite attempt at trying to wake him up from his unconscious state. However, if he, in fact, hadn't fallen into the depths of unconsciousness, it would've been an attempt to comfort him. Nevertheless, Lucy had felt as though she had broken her "sworn" oath to herself, and to Natsu, about protecting the young slayer. A princess's oath… Broken… What did this mean?

Yet, when Lucy thought deeply about it, Natsu wouldn't ever be overpowered by just _one attack_ – be it powerful or not. Not even that of _Mard Geer Tartarus_ was able to take Natsu down with only one attack. Hell, Natsu had immeasurably increased his strength, and probably durability and stamina as well, over the past year.

 _Natsu is not down…_

 _It is impossible_ …

 _He couldn't be…_

 _Not Natsu…_

 _Never again…_

 _Not even once…_

As the blonde's theory about Natsu not being down was proven to be one-hundred percent correct, Natsu pushed himself out of Lucy's arms. He, of course, didn't mind being in Lucy's arms, as she treated him with love and care, but he knew that things had to be done. Like, for example, fight a bitch. Yet, Natsu didn't know that he had been unconscious, whatsoever. But, at that moment, he honestly did not care. No. The only thing he bore concern about was the fact that Lucy was crying. He only cared that someone, or something, had made Lucy cry. The Fire Dragonslayer of the Fairy Tail guild promised himself, and always had promised himself since he met her, that he'd burn everyone or everything that made Lucy cry.

As Natsu pushed himself up, facing his opponent, of whom he still hadn't known by even a name – not like Natsu could put a name to a face anyway – he brushed a shy amount of blood from the corner of his mouth. Natsu's anger pulsated all around him, much like that of Aura's. Yet, his was as black as the night sky. An aura that had never been emitted from the Dragonslayer prior to that moment in time. Or, at least not that recognized. An aura emitting from Natsu like that actually, believe it or not, slightly frightened Lucy.

From across the room, nevertheless, there was a maniacal laugh that began to burn through the throat of Aura. The brunette's eyes had turned into a shade of pitch black, much like that of Natsu's aura. Yet, Natsu's aura was translucent, whilst Aura's eyes had turned into nothing but opaque black. It wasn't just anger radiating from the Dragonblood's body anymore. At this particular point, Aura was emitting an aura that suggested proudness. But, of what?

The next thing Lucy knew, a dark magic circle enveloped Natsu, shooting the blonde individual out of the area she had been occupying. A similar magic circle of magnificent unique patterns of which Lucy had never actually recognized that was under Natsu grew under the legs of Aura, yet this one was rainbow instead a shade of black. Strokes, outlines, and configurations of magical shapes began to cover Aura's body.

The patterns enveloped what seemed like even the brunette's soul. The first lines that were formed on her skin grew from her right shoulder blade and grew like flowers in early bloom down her arm. The colours changed dramatically, also alike that of a flower. It curled beautifully around her elegant, yet not visibly evil, fingertips like velvet. In actuality, it seemed like the patterns that crawled up her arms were three-dimensional. The next patterns began to swathe around her eyes, which were still very dark. And as such happened, her black irises began to form a blood-red pupil in the middle of them. It was beautiful, yet horrifically terrifying at the same time.

 _Could that possibly have been Dragonforce that Aura had been using?_

Aura's lips began to move steadily in what seemed like words and chants that Lucy hadn't had the ability to make out. Then, subsequently to that, her hair turned a neon green shade and left her shoulders, blossoming into what Mirajane Strauss's hair was when she transformed into her Satan Soul. _What's going on…?_ Lucy questioned in a quiet thought.

 _What is going on? What is she doing to Natsu?_ The blonde thought to herself. Lucy had almost said it aloud, too, but she didn't have the ability to even commit such an action at that moment. All she could do, and all that she did, was sit in horror and watched the scary, yet intriguing situation. She hated how she found it intriguing, too. Her mouth was shut even though her jaw was a lot lower than it usually was. The long blonde-haired Celestial Spirit Mage's doe-brown eyes were immensely wide as she pondered her next course of action.

Before a coherent decision became even remotely evident in the young blonde's mind, Aura began to speak words that Lucy barely knew – only because of Levy did she know the translation to the following words. " _Fukkatsu, maō Ēnu Dī, sore wa anata no mokuteki o kiryoku suru jikandesu! Zeref o koroshimasu, Ēteriasu Natsu Doraguniru."_ This directly translated to, Resurrect, demon lord E.N.D. It is time to fulfill your purpose! To kill Zeref, Etherious Natsu Dragneel!"

The words that had just escaped Aura' _s_ mouth… Those words the Dragonblood female had stated… _It can't be… It just can't…_ The blonde who bore thick, long locks couldn't comprehend the words that had just escaped the mouth of her Dragonblood foe She couldn't possibly accept the fact… She just couldn't accept that… But, at the same time, what could she do? Nothing. To her, with Natsu's sudden increase in strength following the year of his disappearance, it somewhat made sense. It also made sense as to why Igneel hadn't wanted the Book of E.N.D to be destroyed… A memory came to her mind that moment.

" _E.N.D is a_ _ **Fire Demon**_ _..."_ Mard Geer Tartarus had said this during the battle against Tartarus. Natsu is the **_Fire Dragonslayer_** … Igneel was the **_Fire Dragon_** … Igneel **_couldn't kill E.N.D_**...

 _It all added up._

" _Etherious Natsu Dragneel…?_ " Lucy, the Celestial Spirit Mage from the Fairy Tail guild, could only manage a scrawny whisper of the translation of Japanese that Aura had just spoken. "Etherious Natsu…" She sighed, still more than slightly shocked, even though she had added it all up in her head. It just didn't seem possible, either way. Not to Lucy.

The wind in the area had managed to dry off the tears that had accumulated in the crevices of the Heartfilia's eyes. Now, they had been accumulating once again… but only because Lucy had found out about her friend. Even though she knew that Natsu was the Etherious Demon, _Etherious Natsu Dragneel,_ she still couldn't comprehend that her best friend, AND POTENTIAL LOVER, was a freaking _DEMON._ Let alone him being **_THE DEMON_**. Natsu was too nice for that… Wasn't he?

Just as her sentence finished escaping her lush lips, a strange thing happened. Natsu, the salmon-haired male, of which was just exposed to be _Master E.N.D_ that even _Mard Geer_ feared so, collapsed. RIGHT IN FRONT OF LUCY. Lucy attempted, fustily, to run into the Magic Circle that enveloped Natsu. Yet, when she did so, she was shot back, her spinal cord smashing against the brick wall, which slightly collapsed onto her, crying in ghastly pain. Cries could be heard as she, once again, crawled to the magic circle beside Natsu.

Blood spewed from her back and she watched, just staying beside the magic circle, not attempting to enter it. "Natsu…" she was gasping between ghastly sobs.

It only happened for about 3 seconds, but it had happened. On Natsu's skin, white lines became temporarily, opaquely, engraved, think and bold. Lucy could not see Natsu's eyes, though. She couldn't focus through the harsh waves of pain. But, on Natsu's eyes, had flame-like patterns, simply made, engraved around them. Protruding from his hairline.

She remembered that she had heard a crack, obviously, emit from her back when she collided with the wall. Shit.

But that, at that moment, was not the problem. At that moment, the real problem was the fact that the bandages on Natsu's arm burst into flames, burning it right off of his bare skin, revealing a tattoo. It had the letters, " ** _E_** ", " ** _N_** ", and, " ** _D_** " engraved in fancy calligraphy that not even a famous artist could do. With similar lines that had been engraved around his irises, the letters were surrounded.

 _Did Natsu know he was E.N.D?_ Lucy pondered, eyes wide with pain, but shared wonder. Could he possibly have known, though? Maybe his secret weapon was demolished and replaced by that of th mark. That'd be only logical, right? _Right? RIGHT?_ _ **RIGHT?!**_ Of course it was replaced. Natsu was too stupid to know that he was the Grand Demon of all creations of the Book of Zeref. It was the ONLY logical reason.

After those three, short, but important, seconds passed, Lucy came to one-hundred percent acknowledge that Natsu was **_Etherious Natsu Dragneel_** , even though she had already come to that conclusion. It just confirmed it furthermore, would be easier and more realistic to say. Lucy wasn't happy, despite the fact that she probably had a broken back. Hot tears streamed heavily down her injured face, striking even more pain as the salt of her tears invaded her wounds. Easily, that would have stung her. It would have stung anyone, but she was already so torn from Natsu, it was nearly impossible to comprehend.

Once the lights flashed, Natsu began to arise from where he was laying approximately a minute after his tattoos were temporarily revealed. His eyes were literally glowing golden; his mark underneath his bandage had vanished, revealing a very sharp edge to his elbow that hadn't been on the other elbow. Was it muscle, probably not? Natsu hadn't had any injuries at all across his entire body, which astounded both Lucy **_AND_** Aura. Had Aura not expected Natsu to be uninjured? Or was the surprise coming from somewhere else…?

As soon as Natsu arose, he growled, his voice as low as the perception of the Devil itself, "Where the fuck am I?" His eyes eyeing everyone around him. Natsu's eyes grew dark as all hell when they landed on Lucy. " _Zecerowa_?" Natsu cracked his knuckles as the exact same patterns grew on Natsu's face and arms as before, but this time they were in black. They brought out the black in his eyes, and the now dark-cherry blossom colour of his locks.

This was no longer Natsu...

Lucy could tell...

It was only _Etherious Natsu Dragneel._

The one created to _kill Zeref._

The _ultimate Demon._


End file.
